My 3 Keys to Staying Sane With 4 Boys and a Girl

Ana Sneed is a work-at-home-mom to four boys and (finally!) a girl. She created her personal blog, WifeyMommySuperHuman.com with the hopes of encouraging and inspiring other moms. Ana writes about kids, husbands, messes, crafts, homeschool, and faith.

Sure, I have been accused of being too organized. People often comment that it seems I spend quite a bit of my time simply organizing stuff, and that this need of mine to plan every little thing can almost be considered a fault.

This may be true.

But, I know that having the items my family and I will need laid out, readily available, and at our fingertips ultimately saves me a whole lot of headache. Because the number one annoyance that causes me to run out of time, that has the potential to make me fall behind, show up late, or just throw up my hands and cry real tears — is that I get too busy looking for something that someone has misplaced!

When I was working full time, I began to realize that my fire drill of a morning could get gobbled right up by a dirty coffee cup and a missing black bra.

Now that I don't work outside the home, I don't necessarily have to find that black bra anymore. But, let's just say I've picked up a whole different scope of responsibilities.

I manage my crazy household of four boys and a baby girl by planning, prepping, and maintaining a schedule.

Staying organized is really the key, for me, to running my home smoothly and not losing my mind. Okay-okay, sometimes I still lose my mind. But, that's a whole different blog post.

Plan

I am a notorious list maker. Yes, I've even been known to make lists about the lists I have to remember to make. But, the thing is, unless something is in front of me I could very well forget about it. I mean, I forget that my lunch is in the microwave all the time. Even when it's still beeping at me three hours later. Having a set plan for my day that includes the appointments I have to show up to, the work I have to complete, the activities I'd like to do with the kids, and the most important goals I have to meet is essential in making sure my day is productive.

Prep

Every night I make sure I lay out all of the items we will need in the morning. Every Sunday I make sure we have everything we will need for the week. At the end of each month, I devise a plan and gather all of the materials I will need for home schooling and crafts for the entire next month. You get the idea. I take a little bit of time to prepare for everything! Why? Because having snacks that the kids can quickly pull out of bins as we run out the door is amazing. Knowing that I have what I need in order to teach, craft, and play ready to grab in two containers is — you got it — amazing. Waking up for church and not having to iron collars or pair up socks is —well, I'm not even going to say it. Yes, it would seem I spend a lot of time doing this prepping stuff. But let me tell you, it makes my crazy busy life a real breeze.

Schedule

My day is generally broken up into 15 to 20 minute increments. I try to keep a fairly clean house by working off of a cleaning schedule so that I devote no more than 20 minutes a day to a specific chore that rotates weekly. I wake up before my children do each day so that I can focus on things like work that I can't be interrupted for. I implement a daily quiet time where the children stay in their bedrooms and can choose to nap. We also adhere to morning and bedtime routines. Sticking to our schedule and adopting the 15 to 20 minute mentality allows me to tackle my daily goals head on, without exhausting too much time on one thing that could eat up my whole day.

But, let's face it. The number one reason that my household appears to run so smoothly? Okay, I'll tell you my secret. Like many women, I'm just really good at faking it.

I keep Clorox wipes on hand in the event that I have to throw some under my feet and do a quick skate around the dirtiest spots on the floor before company arrives. I also keep a space between the wall and our love seat, where a hamper full of clean clothes that I haven't gotten around to folding yet can hide out quite nicely.

You don't have to be as extreme as me, I promise. But seriously, if you work on taking a little bit of time on the front end to get yourself and your home organized, it will make a world of difference with managing your crazies.

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